Tameka's Smile (7 page)

“Sure thing, honey. Tape those posters right up in the window. Maybe they’ll attract some customers our way. Do you have any business cards?”

“I made some new ones last night. I brought a few with me.”

“Give them to Mona. You’re going to be a big hit. Folks will be coming over from bigger towns just to have you do their hair.”

Tameka doubted it, but it was a nice thought. It’s not that she wasn’t good. She’d participated in a few shows in D.C., even won some awards for her styles, but she didn’t know how well 42

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the stuff she excelled at would go over here in the South. She kept her doubts to herself.

“Lulu, someone mentioned that the men in here have to go over to Colbyville to get their hair cut. I’m a pretty decent barber.” Actually, there wasn’t much she couldn’t do when it came to hair.

“That’s great. We sure do need one since old Bert retired. I don’t know how you’re going to handle both, though,” Betty said. She’d just returned from the bowl, washing her client’s hair.

“Easy,” Lulu answered. “We pick a day or two, depending on the volume, where Meka does nothing but barber. Or maybe a few hours each morning and the rest of the day is devoted to styling.”

“Works for me, Lulu. Whatever you say,” Tameka agreed.

Tameka climbed on top of a chair and, with Mona’s help, hung four of her posters in the large picture window, being sure to space them out attractively but still allow passersby to see inside. What she had weren’t the typical salon posters advertising products, but blown-up pictures of models sporting hairstyles she’d created.

Lulu came over to watch. “There’s a ‘Barber on Duty’ sign around here somewhere,” she muttered, looking around distractedly.

“I also have a sign announcing the types of styles I do—

braids, twists, ‘locs, as well as extensions and updos. It’s in the car.”

“Go get it and put it right here in the window. Anything that attracts more business to the shop is welcome. Make up flyers and we’ll distribute them to the businesses in town.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tameka smiled. Lulu reminded her strongly of Grandma Emma.

She stretched, taping the last poster in place. Then she, Lulu, and Mona walked outside to admire her handiwork.

“Looks good,” Mona commented. “I’m so glad you’re here.

It’s time we had some new blood to shake things up in this town.”

Tameka shook her head. “I don’t know about shaking things up, but I’ll do my best to increase the clientele.” 43

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Mona laughed. “Oh, once word gets out that you’re here, they’ll come running. Out of curiosity if nothing else,” she assured her. “Even if you aren’t as good as I suspect you are, they’ll come just to keep from driving so far. If you’re even better than I expect, we may even pull in folks from the surrounding areas.”

She walked to her car and took out her sign, along with the business cards she printed. The cards she gave to Mona. The sign she put in the bottom right corner of the window, right next to the entrance. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning at ten. I probably won’t have any customers, but I’ll be here anyway. Do you have class tomorrow?”

“No, tomorrow’s a free day. Why?”

“Would you let me do your hair? I won’t charge you anything. I want to use you for advertising purposes,” Tameka said quickly, before she could get the wrong idea.

“A free hairdo? Hell, yes. Just tell me when,” Mona exclaimed.

She sighed in relief. “No, you tell me when. You know your schedule and you’re doing me the favor. I’ll await your convenience.”

“I’ll be here when you arrive tomorrow. Let’s do it then.

Ms. Lulu won’t mind. What are you going to do to me?” Tameka studied her face and hair. “Probably an updo this time. Something simple yet trendy. If you’re willing to be my model, I’ll do different styles at different times, maybe experiment some. Is that okay?”

Mona’s eyes had grown big. “Do you know what you’re saying? You’re offering to be my personal hairdresser. For free!

Shoot, yeah. I’m yours.”

Tameka laughed at her excitement. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. “Alright. I’ll see you in the morning. Ms. Betty, Lulu, I’ll see you tomorrow. I need to get going.”

“Okay, honey. Take care.”

“Bye.”

* * * *

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“That girl is going to set this town on its ear and she has no idea.”

“Not a clue,” Betty echoed.

“Wait until the men realize there’s a new, young,
pretty
, unmated female in the area. They’re going to be all over her like fleas on a dog,” Betty’s customer commented.

“This ought to be entertaining,” Lulu commented.

“Let the games begin,” Mona intoned, and the others laughed.

* * * *

Three stores later, she was ready to head home. She drove home feeling good about her future. The people she’d met so far were wonderfully friendly. She loved the house and surrounding acreage she’d inherited. She was happy now that she hadn’t listened to her parents and sold the property, sight unseen.

When they’d heard from the probate lawyer that there was a large offer on the table for Momma E’s place, her father had dollar signs in his eyes. Her mother had joined in on the chorus to sell, sell, sell.

Tameka told them all no. She owed it to Momma E’s memory to at least try to honor her final wishes, and her dearest wish was that Tameka would find the same happiness she had, living in the relative peace and quiet of the mountains.

Momma E had met and married her second husband while on a cruise to Alaska. From all accounts, the two had been ridiculously happy together, despite their age difference. He was twenty years older, but in amazing physical condition. They’d had ten wonderful years together before he was tragically killed in a hunting accident. Though Tameka had spoken with him often, she’d never met him in person, being busy first with school, and later building her practice, which she’d eventually turned her back on. Another decision her parents thought her crazy for making.

Shaking off those depressing memories, she concentrated on putting the groceries away. She had food to last another month, maybe less if Chad was going to be a regular for dinner.

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Not liking the way her heart jumped at the thought of him, she fixed a quick meal of a turkey sandwich with all the trimmings, grabbed a glass of tea, and went into the living room to eat.

Later, she was finishing the last of the flyers she’d created when she heard a vehicle in the driveway. She pulled the last of the still warm papers off of the printer and put them in a folder while waiting for the knock to sound at the door. When none was forthcoming, curiosity got the better of her and she went to the door.

Chad was outside, still sitting in his cruiser. She stood in the doorway a few minutes waiting for him to notice her before realizing something was wrong. As hot as it was, he was sitting in the car with all the windows closed and the engine off.

Concerned, she walked to the car and stood by his window. The moment she got a clear look at his face, her heart pounded an irregular beat and a feeling of dread grew in her stomach.

“Chad?”

He sat looking straight ahead, his fingers clenched on the steering wheel, face blank and eyes—what she could see of them—dead.

She opened the car door. “Chad, baby, what’s wrong?” He turned to gaze at her and the bleakness in his expression tore her tender heart in two.

“They’re dead. All of them. So young. So goddamn young.” He said nothing more, but those few words were enough.

“Come in the house.” If he sat out here much longer, he’d have a heatstroke. Sweat was pouring down his body, mixing with some darker stains on his shirt that she tried not to examine closely.

When he just sat there with the same forlorn expression on his face, she tugged on his arm until he passively allowed her to pull him out of the vehicle. She pulled him into the house, through the living room, straight into her bathroom. “You’ll feel better once you cool off.”

He just stood there, in his own horrible little world, staring into space. Moved by compassion, she undressed him and then herself, turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature, maneuvered them both into the tub and closed the shower curtain.

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Tenderly, she washed him from head-to-toe, growing more and more concerned at his zombie-like state. When they were both clean and dry, she pulled him into the bedroom and pushed him down onto the side of the bed. “I’ll be right back. Let me put your clothing in the washer.”

She filled the washing machine with cold water, poured laundry detergent directly onto his clothes and more in the water, set it for heavy wash, and closed the lid. Those stains looked suspiciously like blood, but she didn’t really want to know.

Back in the room, Chad was sitting right where she left him.

She tucked the large, blue bath sheet around her body and made sure it was secure before straddling his lap. If ever a man needed a hug, this one did. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, crooning nonsense in his ear.

He was unresponsive at first. A few minutes passed before his arms slowly crept around her. He exhaled one harsh breath after another, then his arms tightened like a vise, crushing her to him. She could barely breathe, but that didn’t matter, not when Chad’s shoulders were shaking and his tears were scorching her shoulders.

She rocked him back and forth, cradling his head against her neck while stroking his hair, shoulders and back. Anything that she could reach. So lost was she in his silent misery that she was caught totally unprepared when he flipped her onto her back on the bed.

“I need…I have to…” he stuttered while ripping the towel off of her body. “Got to get closer,” he muttered.

He gripped her by the shoulders and lifted her higher onto the bed. Tameka willingly opened her legs when he pressed a determined knee between them.

“Help me forget,” he pleaded, his gaze desperate.

Tameka reached between their bodies and grabbed his cock, bringing it to her opening.

Chad whispered a fervent, “Thank you,” and then surged forward, joining them together. Once in place, he didn’t move.

“Hold me,” he requested hoarsely.

He was already in her and around her, his arms once more holding her in a bear hug. She wrapped her arms and legs around his body like a python and held on tight. She lost track of the 47

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length of time they lay that way before he began to move. Using nothing more than his hips, he retreated and advanced in long strokes that slowly set fire to her receiving body.

They didn’t kiss or touch in any other way. Just arms wrapped securely around each other as his shaft pumped in and out. He moved like a well-oiled machine—no faltering, no fluctuation, just a steady, relentless stroking that turned her mind to mush as her body caught flame and burned.

She forgot that this was about comforting him. She lost sight of everything except the thrust and retreat of his cock in her innermost being. Her hands slid down his back to grip his butt.

“Harder, baby, please. I’m so close.”

He nuzzled his face against the tender area beneath her ear, then followed it down to the tendon between her neck and shoulder. His teeth locked down, clamping her in place. Like she’d go anywhere, even if she could.

Her sheath contracted around him in response to his primitive action, and her hips surged up from the bed, seeking a deeper connection. Through it all, he maintained the same steady pace.

Tameka dug her nails into his flexing cheeks, and a growl rumbled up from his chest. The vibration traveled through his teeth and into her chest, and her nipples tightened into taut little beads. She was panting now, right on the edge. The smooth glide of his penis was neither fast nor forceful enough to push her over the precipice. Her heart beat fast in its cage, and sweat poured from her body as she strained against him, struggling to take what she needed.

He ignored her efforts as though he was lost in his own little world.

“Chad,” she cried out desperately. “
Please
,” she begged.

He switched angles, causing his pubic bone to bear down on her clit with each forward thrust. Her pleasure spiked tenfold. He licked the skin between his teeth, then bit down hard enough to draw blood.

Tameka dove off the cliff into a tsunami of an orgasm.

Vaguely she heard a voice screaming in the background, but the rest of her senses were overwhelmed. She collapsed back onto the bed, legs and arms splayed wide. Her heartbeat pounded like 48

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a drum and her lungs contracted furiously, trying to suck in much needed air.

When she came back to herself, she realized Chad was hard as steel inside of her, and he wasn’t moving. She cupped his jaw, trying to turn his head where she could see his face. “You didn’t…”

The expression in his eyes stole the breath right out of her lungs. She’d thought he was with her. Wherever his mind was, it wasn’t in this bed. His eyes were too haunted. She pushed until she got him turned onto his back. He threw his forearm over his eyes and lay there, sprawled carelessly, his shiny cock sticking straight up in the air.